Home Why has Google Home regressed to Siri like stupidity? Waking up to BBC Radio shouldn't be this difficult

[madeirabhoy]

Now to be fair whilst it's such a simple request, wake up to BBC Radio 1, it's always been too complicated for poor Siri. Wakening me up, fine. playing bcc radio 1, fine. putting them together, not possible.

But Google Home could do this when it first came out, and for many years after, why is it getting worse ?

First I could do it easily by voice and it worked 100% of the time. Hey Google waken me up every week day with music, answer the what time, and what music questions and job done.

then a year ago or so, Google 'improved' its service, and it was no longer possible. to set music alarms via voice, for reasons never properly explained.

But help was at hand, automations could do it. a simple in-app automation of 'play BBC Radio 1' worked great for months.

then in the last month or two, its got really weird. to me, with smart devices, surely whatever they do or not do, it should be the same every time. info in, info out. but no.

without me changing or messing with the automation, around 4 days out of 5 randomly, it fails to play the radio station, wakening me up with some comment about radio not being available on free Spotify, but it can play a playlist called bbl radio 1, then it plays someones playlist from years ago with some ***** music.

however about once a week or so, it surprises me with BBC Radio 1, how can this be only sometimes?

For most of the time, it meant me wakening up to this random playlist, saying 'hey google stop. hey google play bbc radio 1'. as for some reason me saying it would work fine. then all of a sudden, even saying 'hey google play BBC Radio 1' would have it play a foreign radio station. sometimes its impossible to get it to play it. then the next morning it will shock me by getting it right on the automation.

 

[madeirabhoy]

For two days in a row, it woke me with BBC Radio 1, hurrah, then this morning it was a strange Spanish station. id understand it if it was speech and it could mishear me, but how can it do 3 entirely different things in 4 days based on the same instruction - 'play BBC Radio 1' has lead to twice BBC Radio 1, once an old spotify playlist (not mine) and once radio siesta i think it was called.

 

[b17777]

You might have better luck on a Google site for answers.

 

[madeirabhoy]

You might have better luck on a Google site for answers.

thanks i did, but the google nest forum is just full of people putting questions or complaints and no one answers. i see other people posting similar to me. its so frustrating and illogical that a box reacts differently to the same command at different times.

 

[Iwavvns]

Google and Apple are corporations. Corporations are designed to make money for their shareholders. Corporations value money above people. So, don't expect everything a corporation does to make sense.. they are doing it solely because they're chasing after money.

 

[madeirabhoy]

think i might have solved it, fingers crossed. Changed it to 'play bbc radio 1 from the bbc' as thats what the speaker says before it plays it, and so far, not had the spanish 'radio1 fm from tune in' or the daft playlist for a couple of days